Episode 49 • Panic
The heebie jeebies
Chillax
Freak out
Hyperventilate
Go to your happy place
Story
Boy 1: Maybe we should take the stairs?
Boy 2: No, way… Why?
Boy 1: I don’t know… I don’t like elevators. Every time I have to get in one I get the heebie jeebies.
Boy 2: Are you serious? C’mon. It’s only 10 floors. Chillax!
[mechanical noise]
Boy 1: Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! What happened?!
Boy 2: Okay, don’t freak out… We’re going to be okay. Somebody will realize we’re here soon.
Boy 1: You don’t -. You don’t- under- understand-.
Boy 2: Listen you’re hyperventilating. I need you to take a deep breath and go to your happy place, okay? Can you do that for me? They’re going to come real soon, okay?… Now, if you could just move a bit so I can press the alarm, that would be-
[mechanical noise]
Boy 1: What- What happened?
Boy 2: Well, you were keeping the STOP button pressed with your head!
Questions
The heebie jeebies
'Every time I have to get in one I get the heebie jeebies.'
I love this expression. I think it's so much fun.
• If you get the heebie jeebies how do you feel? Happy and relaxed or scared and anxious?
Happy and relaxed or scared and anxious. If you get the heebie-jeebies, you're scared and anxious. Imagine you have to walk home at night. You're by yourself, maybe you're in a parking lot and nobody else is there, you might get the heebie-jeebies. You know that feeling when you're like, "Hmm, this doesn't feel right. I feel very unsafe right now." That's when you get the heebie-jeebies.
• What things give you the heebie jeebies?
I think what I just said, I think walking by myself at night, depending on the area where I'm at, or maybe even worse if it's just me and somebody else and I'm taking the subway, for example, then I would definitely get the heebie-jeebies.
Chillax
'C’mon. It’s only 10 floors! Chillax!'
• If someone tells you to chillax, do they want you to calm down or run away?
If someone tells you to chillax, they want you to calm down. They want you to relax. That's where the expression comes from, from the word relax.
• Is it polite to tell someone to chillax?
Not really. When you use the word, the expression chillax, usually it's because you think the person is overreacting. They're having a reaction that is not justified for the circumstances. You're in a way you're making fun of them. Imagine you see a bug and you think it's silly. It's only a bug and the other person is really scared. You can tell them, chillax, it's only a bug. Don't worry about it. That's the spirit in which you say it. No, it's not super nice but it's not super rude either.
• When was the last time someone told you or should have told you to chillax?
Like I've said before I'm constantly stressed. I always find a reason to be stressed out. I think the last time that I felt scared and very, very anxious was when I thought I couldn't find a job. I was really nervous but my boyfriend kept on saying, "Chillax, you're going to find something, don't worry about it."
Freak out
'Okay, don’t freak out… We’re going to be okay.'
• If you freak out, are you feeling calm or are you panicking?
You're definitely panicking. If you're freaking out that means that you're really scared.
• How intense are the feelings you feel when freaking out?
They are really intense. Freaking out is a pretty big reaction to some things. You are either very, very scared or very anxious or very worried but it means that you cannot even think properly. You just go into panic mode.
• What are some of the most common causes for people to freak out?
Well, there could obviously be several reasons. Like we said, maybe you're scared. You hate snakes and you see a snake and you start freaking out or maybe you're just super worried. Imagine being a mom and your kid was supposed to be home at two and he's not home yet. You start freaking out. Anything that will cause you to be extremely anxious or extremely scared or worried that what is going to make you freak out.
• When was the last time you freaked out and why?
The last time I freaked out was a couple of weeks ago. We just moved into this new place and I couldn't find my hard drive where I had stored a lot of important information and a lot of important files. I just started freaking out because I thought I had either lost it or I had left it at a different apartment because we had changed three apartments in the previous week. I started freaking out and that was one of the times when my boyfriend was like, "Chillax, we're going to solve this," and then we found my hard drive. It was, I forget where it was, maybe in a drawer or something, but yes. I really freaked out and started opening all the cabinets and screaming and like, "Where is it?" But yes, all good.
Hyperventilate
'Listen, you’re hyperventilating.'
• If you hyperventilate, do you breathe more or less rapidly than usual?
If you hyperventilate, you breathe more rapidly. So you go [panting] like the girl in the story.
• What are the main causes of hyperventilation?
I believe one of the main causes would be fear or anxiety. If you're having a panic attack or an anxiety attack sometimes that will cause you to hyperventilate.
• Was there ever a time when you started to hyperventilate?
Yes. Unfortunately, there have been times. I actually something I think I haven't mentioned on the podcast before but I do suffer from anxiety attacks. I'm a pretty anxious person and when I say pretty I mean a lot. Sometimes I do have anxiety attacks and for a number of reasons or no reason at all sometimes. I start to hyperventilate. That's not fun.
Go to your happy place
'I need you to take a deep breath and go to your happy place.'
• If you go to your happy place or someone tells your to go to your happy place, do you move from where you are?
Well, no. If someone tells you to go to your happy place, it just means that you need to use your imagination to put yourself in a situation where you feel happier
• In which situations does it help to go to your happy place?
Imagine that you're scared or that you're really nervous or really anxious. If you go to your happy place mentally, you bring yourself, you take yourself to a place that is calm and happy, something maybe you start remembering happy moments from your life, that can help you ease the anxiety, that can help you feel better and more calm.
• What is your happy place and do you think going to your happy place can help you overcome difficult situations?
Usually, if I'm having an anxiety attack, I don't normally go to my happy place. I don't know. It's something in that moment I just can't. There are times when maybe I can sleep at night and I try to go to my happy place and actually have a few happy places. One of them would be it's usually connected to water though. I'm either floating. Maybe I'm on a boat floating on a river, or usually, I'm underwater with a bunch of fish. Those I think would be my two happy places.
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